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RaShae Jennings

Where do you currently work?

I work at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, KY and I am the Archivist/Registrar
for the museum.

Tell me a bit about your career?

I handle the processing of items that come into the collection and continue the preservation
of items that were previously donated to the museum. I also maintain the records of
the donations and create permanent locations for the items.

How has folklore prepared you for your career?

Folklore has prepared me in numerous ways for this job. One is that my emphasis (Historic
Preservation) was of major importance to my career by training me how to handle items
and allowing me to be introduced to methodologies that would later be my primary purpose
in my future occupation. Those classes allowed me to establish my knowledge base on
preservation techniques in a variety of situations and circumstances so that I could
build upon that and focus my abilities to do my job both efficiently and properly.
Also my internships played a vital role in my hiring process by giving me the experience
that was a major factor in this intuition's decision to hire me (Thank you Dr. Williams!!!!).
They were very impressed by my prior experience.

Also Folklore and my professors remain a large part of my success even today. The
skills and critical thinking that came from this degree has allowed me to come across
problems, apply that type of thinking and find solutions to them in an proficient
manner. If I need a second opinion on something, I know that they will be willing
to listen and help me. The network of friends that this degree has given me is so
important not only to my current abilities but to all my future endeavors.